thinking it but one,
this chrysanthemum I saw—
in Ōsawa pond,
even on the pond’s deep floor,
who could have planted it so?
- Meaning
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I thought it was but a single chrysanthemum—yet in the depths of Ōsawa Pond as well, who could have planted it there?
- Commentary
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Book Five Autumn Poems (Part Two)
A poem composed on seeing chrysanthemums planted in a suhama modeled after Ōsawa Pond.
Seeing the reflection of the chrysanthemums upon the surface of the pond, the poet expresses it as though someone had planted flowers even at the bottom of the water.
Ōsawa Pond is located near Daikaku-ji in present-day Sakyō Ward, Kyoto.
- Author
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Ki no Tomonori
- Source
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Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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drenched, I dry my robes
on a mountain path, among
chrysanthemums—
within the space of this dew,
when did I pass a thousand years?
-
gazing on the flowers,
while I wait for one to come—
white as fine cloth sleeves,
so I thought them and mistook
what I saw before my eyes
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while autumn chrysanthemums
shine in all their fragrance,
I shall wear them—
for I know not my own life,
if it end before these flowers
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if I must pluck them,
then at random I shall pluck—
first frost has fallen,
confusing all before my eyes,
white chrysanthemums alike